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October 12, 2021 | International, Naval

US Navy's supply chain chief wants to transform dollars into readiness

The U.S. Navy is trying to improve its readiness while reining in the rising costs of maintenance and modernization. While these goals can seem at odds, the service's first stab at this effort allowed it to boost its fighter jet mission-capable rates.

https://www.defensenews.com/interviews/2021/10/10/us-navys-supply-chain-chief-wants-to-transform-dollars-into-readiness/

On the same subject

  • Lockheed Overtakes Boeing as Largest US Aerospace and Defense Firm

    January 28, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Lockheed Overtakes Boeing as Largest US Aerospace and Defense Firm

    Boeing, which saw no defense revenue growth last year, takes another financial hit from the tanker program. Boeing ceded its long-held top spot as America's largest aerospace and defense firms to Lockheed Martin after reporting financial results from an abysmal 2020 on Wednesday. The Chicago-based company also said it would lose another $275 million building Air Force KC-46 tankers because of “program primarily due to production inefficiencies including impacts of COVID-19 disruption.” The company has lost more than $4 billion on the project. The company closed 2020 — a year that saw the collapse of passenger air travel from the coronavirus pandemic and the return to flight of the 737 Max airliner — with just under $58.2 billion in revenue, down 24 percent from the previous year. While Lockheed — which on Tuesday reported $65.4 billion in 2020 sales — has long been the world's largest defense contractor, revenue from Boeing's commercial airplane business has combined with its military work to keep it atop the defense-and-aerospace category for decades. Boeing's defense and space sales were flat year-over-year at just shy of $26.3 billion. Its services business, which includes defense work, made $15.5 billion, down 16 percent as thousands of aircraft remain grounded due to the pandemic. “Overall, the government services and defense and space businesses remain significant and relatively stable and we continue to see solid global demand for our major programs,” CEO David Calhoun said on the company's quarterly earnings call Wednesday. “Nevertheless, the scale of government spending on COVID-19 response has the potential to add pressure to global defense spending in the years ahead.” U.S. defense spending is expected to flatten or decline in coming years as the Biden administration and a Democrat-controlled Congress focus more on domestic issues. Calhoun said the company expects its defense business to grow in the “lower end of the single digits” in coming years. “It's hard to commit to a big uptick in any way on growth rates anytime soon, in light of what I think are the pressures,” he said. Calhoun, who became CEO of the firm one year ago this month, said the coronavirus would continue to delay international defense contracts. “The order activity in those international markets has pushed to the right, somewhat of an almost entirely because of COVID-related stuff, not because of any competitive issue one way or the other,” he said. Like many of his colleagues in recent years, Calhoun touted Boeing's classified military work as being “incredibly encouraging and incredibly important to us.” Despite the continued problems with the KC-46, the Air Force has purchased 94 of a planned 179 aircraft. Just this month, it placed two orders totaling $3.8 billion for 27 aircraft. The FAA last month cleared the 737 Max for passenger flights in the United States. Some airlines have already resumed flights across North and South America. European regulators on Wednesday said the plane can resume flights across the continent. Boeing also disclosed Wednesday that it would not deliver its first 777X, a larger, more efficient version of the popular 777 jetliner, until late 2023. https://www.defenseone.com/business/2021/01/lockheed-overtakes-boeing-largest-us-aerospace-and-defense-firm/171684/

  • Joint Expeditionary Force to strengthen sharing of tactical intelligence

    June 13, 2023 | International, Other Defence

    Joint Expeditionary Force to strengthen sharing of tactical intelligence

    A British-led defence alliance of several European countries will strengthen its sharing of tactical intelligence, the group, known as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), said on Tuesday.

  • US defense-industry report finds 300 security risks needing 'immediate action'

    October 5, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    US defense-industry report finds 300 security risks needing 'immediate action'

    by James Langford A sweeping Defense Department review ordered by President Trump has identified roughly 300 gaps in weapon-makers' supply chains that could threaten U.S. military campaigns if they're not corrected, a senior administration official said Thursday. The report, commissioned in July 2017, will be presented to Trump on Friday, and the president is expected to earmark funds available through both the Defense Production Act and a 1939 defense stockpile program to address some of them, the official said. The issues were identified largely at small and midsize firms that have supplied top-line U.S. contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin and have been harmed more than their larger customers by cuts in U.S. government spending, the official said. Compiled by 16 working groups with hundreds of subject-matter exports, the report found both fragile markets and weakened companies, situations that could affect the production of devices such as propeller shafts, as well as supplies of raw materials like rocket fuel, ceramics used in body armor, and metals used in combat vehicles. "We have a situation where we've identified a number of vulnerabilities which demand immediate action," the official said. "This administration's hallmark is immediate action, and with this report, there's also a blueprint for actions that will be launched immediately." The review reflects the president's belief that economic security is synonymous with national security, highlighted with the imposition of double-digit tariffs on steel and aluminum earlier this year. Those duties were set under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the White House to intervene in markets to protect national security. Full article: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/business/us-defense-industry-report-finds-300-security-risks-needing-immediate-action

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